


Down to the bones

by justinsbuzz



Series: The end... [8]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Hospitals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:41:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26124388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justinsbuzz/pseuds/justinsbuzz
Summary: Steven goes to the hospital for a check-up.
Relationships: Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe
Series: The end... [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1509437
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	Down to the bones

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, Back to regular writing. Another rewrite on SUF, but i wanted to give Priyanka a bigger roll in things. Plus, i wanted to try my hand in writing about human/gem tech hybrids. Not much more to say but enjoy.

Priyanka, moments later, had hovered back up through the ceiling tiles yet again. The same way she had entered his dreams. Or maybe it was how Steven brought her into the dreamscape in the first place. It was another thing added to the pile of questions he may never get answers to. He never did get the chance to think it over before one of the walls had vanished. Showing the beach outside of his house. Looking out at the waves, something felt off. The waves were going in reverse. Instead of the waves pushing in and pulling back, it was being pulled onto the shore, and then pushed back. They were going in reverse. Steven sat up on the couch, and about ready to walk towards the beach before something phased into view.

A tall woman, with pink, poofy hair, and a gem in the middle of her abdomen. Her outfit had struck terror into Steven’s heart. Her feet, with white balls on the tips, moved forwards without the movement of walking. No sand was being disturbed under her feet. It was as though the sand was solid ground. The most disturbing aspect was her eyes. The tall woman’s eyes weren't at all what he remembered. They were not his mother’s eyes. There were no diamond shaped irises with pink around them. They were black. They were voided of all color, if not voided of life. His mom, Pink diamond, slowly moved towards him. Moved without the motion of moving. Legs not lifting. It was as though she was on an invisible conveyer belt. As she crossed the boundary between the beach and Priyankas office, her shape changed. She had gone from the figure of Pink Diamond, to Rose Quartz. Though not as intimidating, the sight of his mom, the image of his mom that he had grown up with, a picture that loomed over the front door within the house, still haunted him.

Rose Quartz, still moving towards Steven without looking like she’s walking, still had the same black-as-the-void eyes, causing the sense of panic to grow inside of Steven. Pink Diamond wasn’t as terrifying as her. His own mother, creeping closer and closer. Steven, seeing that there was no way out of here, instinctively laid back down on the couch, turning his back on his ever-encroaching mother, and curled up into a ball. The walls began to move again. Breathing in and out. Steven could still sense them coming closer. But now, not looking directly at them, he could hear something. Beyond the creaking walls, he heard footsteps. The gate, the spacing of the sound of the steps. They sounded nearly like his own. Out of sheer curiosity, he peaked over his shoulder to see the one thing that caused more fear in him than anything else he has witnessed in his dream. His other self. Pink. Blacked out eyes. Even without the pupils, he knew that his pink self had held a cold glare, but a broad grin to boot. Spinning back around to face the couch, the creaking of the walls moved faster. The footsteps sounded harsher. He was trapped. Trapped inside of a dream he did not want to have, being stuck in a room not of his own making, and being visibly haunted by all the things he hated and feared at the same time.

And then. He felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Steven.” Said a familiar voice. At that very moment, his fight or flight reflexes kicked in, as he formed his shield and swung out towards the Pink apparition. His shield had struck something, causing it to be flung across his bedroom.

“YEEET!” The familiar voice of Peridot cried out before she hit the wall opposite of Steven’s bed. He was back in his room, surrounded by the surprised and nearly frightened faces of Lapis, Connie, and Amethyst. Peridot slid down the wall and landed on the TV with a high-pitched groan that caused Lapis to chuckle slightly. Amethyst and Connie, on the other hand, looked on with worry at Steven, who was more mortified than anyone else.

“Oh my glob, Peridot! Are you oka-” Steven began to ask about her well-being before Peridot raised her head up with a grin on her face.

“Woooo! Again!” Peridot cheered loudly.

“Uh… okay, how about a ‘no’?” Steven replied to Peridot’s request.

“How about a ‘yes’?” Peridot replied, still smiling.

“How about a rain-check?” Steven asked, feeling too tired to argue.

“Good enough for me!” Peridot answered before climbing down from Steven’s TV and walking out through Steven’s sliding glass door.

“Man. Leave it to Peri to want to be thrown across the room for fun.” Amethyst said, shaking her head.

“It was kind of funny though.” Lapis replied, still smiling somewhat. Connie walked over to the edge of the bed and sat down.

“Bad dream?” Connie asked.

“The worse one I’ve had in awhile.” Steven groaned as he sat up in bed. For a moment, it felt like Steven was feeling wobbly from waking up from a nightmare before realizing that it was his bed that seemed to have drooped to one side, two of its legs broken.

“Yeah. I can tell.” Connie said, looking at the lopsided bed. “You also slept through the alarm. I tried to wake you, but… well…”

“You were thrashing around like an imbalanced washing machine during an earthquake.” Amethyst said bluntly, walking over to the bed. “Also, Priyanka said something about you having a physical today instead of a therapy appointment. What’s that about?”

“It’s… it’s nothing. Just something I might not do today. Not feeling great.” Steven groaned before laying back down on his side awkwardly.

“You’re not going to see a doctor… because you’re not feeling well?” Amethyst asked, sounding puzzled. “That’s like saying you don’t want to go to a restaurant because you’re hungry, Or you don’t want to jump into a pool of water cause you’re on fire.”

“What she’s trying to say is that maybe not feeling great is the best reason TO go see a doctor.” Connie added. “And I’m sure my mom’s bedside manner got a lot better ever since she decided to fall back to her therapy career. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“But wouldn’t she be better off helping someone else out?” Steven asked, feeling himself sink deeper into the bed as the weight of his conscience literally weighing him down. “Someone who isn’t such a freak who has nightmares about their mom trying to kill them?”

Connie, Amethyst, and Lapis were stunned by what Steven had just said. The silence among them was broken by Peridot, coming back into the room with her tablet in hand.

“Good news! I just checked the weather forecast for the week and it’s going to be sunny, clear, and immense heat waves! No rain anytime soon!” Peridot cheered before jumping on top of Steven. “Now fling me, you depressed clod!”

And almost like it was staged, the other two legs broke from under Steven’s bed, causing Peridot to lose her balance and Connie to fall over. Steven could only curl himself up even tighter.

“Come on, Biscuit. Is this about what happened yesterday?” Connie asked. “It’s okay if it is. Let’s just work through this. Staying in bed isn’t healthy. Plus, if you go to see my mom, I promise we’ll go get donuts after.”

“And if you don’t get out of bed, Priya said I can tie you up and drag you to her office.” Amethyst said, slowly producing a whip from her gem.

“Sorry guys. This… this isn’t a good day for me. I think I just want to be alone for a while.” Steven said, sounding depressed.

“I’m… I’m sorry too, hon. I wish I knew what I could do.” Connie said, gently rubbing Steven’s back.

“Well, I’m only kind of sorry, and I know exactly what to do.” Amethyst said with a smile.

They were only a few blocks away when the weight of Steven began to cause the sidewalk to crack under him, while Amethyst shape-shifted into the Purple Puma just to get enough muscle mass to drag him.

“Okay, Not going to lie Steven, you’re kind of letting your conscience get the better of you. I’ve never pulled someone this heavy.” Amethyst grunted as she was slowly losing steam.

“This is a little bit out of hand. Plus, Steven’s still in his pajamas and we destroyed a block's worth of sidewalk.” Connie said, sounding concerned. “C’mon, Steven. if you can’t do this for yourself, do you think you could do it for me? Please?”

Steven looked up from the ground at Connie, who looked very worried and scared for him. And with that alone, he gave in.

“Can I at least go home to change my clothes?” Steven asked.

“Yeah, sure.” Connie replied.

“But no going back to bed.” Amethyst said, making a u-turn and going back to the house, dragging Steven along.

“You won’t have to worry about the bed.” Peridot said, riding on Lapis’ shoulder.

“Yeah. since your bed broke, we did the only thing naturally and gave it a proper send off.” Lapis said with a slight smirk.

“A proper wha-” Steven attempted to ask before looking up for a moment to see some smoke coming from the beach outside of Steven’s house.

“We burned it!” Peridot cheered.

“It will be missed terribly. It was possibly the best trampolines I’ve ever jumped on.” Lapis lamented.

“The frame was the only thing broken!” Steven cried out.

“Yeah, but we had a hard time trying to burn that.” Peridot replied.

“The matches were lit, Steven. there was nothing we could do.” Peridot said, trying to sound reasonable.

“You could have just put them out!” Steven retorted, sinking deeper into the concrete.

After being half an hour late, Steven sat on the examination table, wondering how angry Priyanka was for him being late. But when he got there, she seemed to have been busy with another patient. As he sat there, Connie held his hand, which had been fading between normal and bright pink. He returned back to his normal weight, making sure he didn’t end up crushing anything else today. For the most part, Steven still feels weighted down by his emotions. Connie could sense that.

“Steven?” Connie asked.

“Yeah?” Steven replied.

“Do you want to talk about it? The nightmare?” Connie asked, gently squeezing his hand.

“Not… not yet. Not now. Maybe later on this afternoon.” Steven replied wearily. Apart from being physically exhausted, he was also emotionally spent. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

“Come in!” Steven called out. Priyanka entered the room, staring intently at her tablet. “Sorry for being late, ma’am.”

“Oh, it’s fine. I actually had another patient before you who needed to see me immediately. Nothing major though.” Priyanka replied. “So how are you feeling toda-”

Priyanka stopped in mid-sentence after looking up from her tablet at the room to see not only Steven sitting on the examination table, but Amethyst was eating tongue suppressors, while Peridot was using an array of devices on Lapis, who didn’t seem to mind having her ears and nostrils checked. This left most of the people on edge.

“Ooookay. Room’s at max capacity, everyone but Steven out. And please stop eating the tongue depressors, Amethyst. Just because they’re flavored, doesn’t mean that it’s edible.” Priyanka ordered, causing Lapis to walk out with a blood pressure cuff still on her arm, Peridot constantly hitting her elbow and laughing, and Amethyst sneaking away with a handful of tongue depressors inside of her gem. Looking back at the room, Priyanka still saw Connie holding Steven’s hand. She only needed to lift an eyebrow for the message to get across. “Sorry, Connie. that means you too.”

“Boo, but okay.” Connie said somewhat flatly before kissing Steven’s cheek. “It’s going to be okay, Steven. I’ll be out in the waiting room to keep the monsters from burning anything else.”

“Thank you, Connie. Love you.” Steven said as Connie walked out of the room.

“Love you too, Biscuit.” Connie replied, giving Steven a soft smile as she left.

“He’ll be alright, Connie. and please keep them from anything flammable. Remodeling the office was kind of expensive.” Priyanka called out to her before shutting the door. “Why did she say she would keep them from burning anything else?”

“Rough morning… early afternoon.” Steven said, looking down at his feet. “Long story short, they burned my bed after the bed frame broke. I’m going to be sleeping on the couch until I can get a new bed and frame.”

“Uh-huh. And I’m getting the feeling like it’s been a stressful day?” Priyanka asked, looking at Steven with some concern. “Like, really stressful?”

“Um, not really. Why do you ask?” Steven asked nervously.

“Because your hands gave it away.” Priyanka said, nodding to Steven’s hands. When he looked down, he saw that he had become completely pink, while his hands and forearms were slowly growing. Shocked at the sight of it, Steven shut his eyes tightly and concentrated as hard as he could. After opening his eyes, his hands and arms were back to normal.

“That’s never happened before. I didn’t mean to do that.” Steven explained. Priyanka nodded.

“It’s okay, Steven.” Priyanka said. “There’s nothing for you to be worried about. We’re going to just do a quick physical, maybe take some X-ray scanning. Might take a blood sample. Pearl had to have taken you to see a physician before, right? Couldn’t be any different than that.”

“Erm. Actually. She never did.” Steven said sheepishly, causing Priyanka to look stunned.

“Seriously? Not even for shots?” Priyanka asked.

“She said I didn’t need them since I was a gem.” Steven replied, looking uncomfortable. “In hindsight, not the best parental move.”

Priyanka could only shake her head slowly as to non-verbally show her disappointment.

“Not your fault Steven, but Pearl really needs to get her act together. I mean, you’re half human as well. that should have meant something at some point.” Priyanka said, opening up cabinets to see what was, and what wasn’t taken. “She may be thousands of years old, and lived among humanity for a long while, but she should have picked up a few things along the way.”

“One would think that. She and Garnet kind of dropped the ball.” Steven said, feeling his resentment towards Pearl and Garnet. Priyanka could sense it.

“Well, I kind of want to wish that they tried their best. But in all honesty, yeah. They kind of did. Then again, they could have done worse.” Priyanka attempted to find reason in their actions as she tossed Steven a hospital gown.

“They could have done better, too.” Steven sighed, looking at his gem as he took off his shirt.

“I’ll give you some privacy, then afterwards, we’ll get started.” Priyanka said as she walked out the door.

The next half hour was a mixture of awkward situations and a fair amount of apologizing. In the end, 2 blood pressure cuffs were torn in two because of Steven’s arms growing unexpectedly, a ceiling tile which now has one of Steven’s sandals embedded into it after testing reflexes, 4 syringe needles snapped after multiple attempts to get blood samples, and the possibility of not making eye contact for no less than a week. In the end, Steven sat on the table, now a stable color of pink, and looking very remorseful. Priyanka, on the other hand, flicked the screen of her medical tablet, slowly shaking her head.

“This…” Priyanka began to speak before being interrupted by Steven.

“I’m really sorry, ma’am.” Steven spoke. “This… all of this. I have to deal with this on a daily basis. My limbs growing spontaneously is relatively new, but just the super strength, being able to move faster, odd reflexes and the pink… I’m sorry, ma’am.”

“Steven, you have absolutely nothing to apologize for. You didn’t do anything wrong.” Priyanka replied reassuringly, sounding more like a mom than a doctor. “These powers though, I’ve seen you be able to lift 2 times your own body weight, gently glide down and jump to unnatural heights. But now your powers seem to increase tenfold. We may not have been able to get a blood sample, but since we still need to do x-rays, it would give us a chance to test out a new device.”

“A new device? What kind of device?” Steven asked cautiously.

“Well, it was designed by myself as well as a few pearls, Peridot herself, and a nephrite who may only be just slightly more ingenious than insane.” Priyanka replied, making Steven feel uneasy. Priyanka sensed this. “But mostly ingenious. Basically, it’s an upright scanning machine that not only does x-rays, but CT scans, MRI’s, Coronary Angiography, Mammography, fluoroscopy, PET scans. Technically, it’s about 8 million dollars’ worth of medical equipment rolled into one machine. Come, I’ll show you.”

Steven remembered helping with the remodeling of the clinic’s office, but he didn’t remember putting in a small elevator. It was one of the newer hallways near the back part of the clinic. The elevator was almost large enough to fit a couple of Jaspers, or 6 average humans at most. But the most unusual thing about the elevator was that it made no sound at all. Steven could feel the elevator going down, but if it weren’t for that feeling, he would have thought that the elevator was broken. After a few moments, the elevator opened up into another hallway that had a couple dressing rooms on one side, and a double-door opening into a medium sized room. within, there was an unusual device. It consisted of a dark, circular rubber mat on top of an elevated pad. On the sides were two long pieces of plastic that went from the outer edge of the circle, up to a pair of arms that connected it to an overhang, which was the same shape as the pad on the ground. It was taller than Garnet, and wider than Jasper, seemingly built to be able to scan nearly any form of living beings, save for the Diamonds. Or at least most of them.

“I haven’t really come up with a decent name for this machine, so it’s just known as a GS machine. General Scanner.” Priyanka spoke as she guided Steven over to the pad, and non-verbally gesturing him to step in the middle of the circle. “This machine can create a 4D holographic imaging of anyone, taking accurate images of veins, the nervous system, bone structure, muscle mapping. It’s also capable of extracting a very small amount of blood through the skin. All it would need is a small drop, and you can get all the information you will ever need about cholesterol levels, chemical makeup, hormones, pheromones, neuro-chemical transmission. Heck, this thing can even see what your past 3 meals were!”

Priyanka adjusted the pillars so that they would barely touch Steven’s arms, which could, at any moment, grow immensely large. Erring on the side of caution, she decided to make sure they were only an inch away from touching Steven.

“This machine could ultimately revolutionize the medical field. No more waiting for lab tests to get done, or claustrophobic tubes, or blurry CT scans that couldn’t tell the difference between a meatball and a cancerous tumor. Reduces the need for unnecessary surgery. With this machine being here, this clinic is the most technologically advanced medical facility in the entire world.” Priyanka gushed while making sure Steven was directly in the middle of the pad. “And I’m the one who owns the place. I’m finally calling my own shots, no more screening patients to see who can be saved and who should be thrown out. No. I’m saving everyone, and Dr. Roberts can go choke on his stethoscope. I’ve made it.”

“Yeah. must be great to finally figure out what you want to do.” Steven said in a low tone. Priyanka suddenly looked at Steven empathetically.

“Steven, it’s okay if you don’t have it all figured out right now. I didn’t know what I really wanted to do until I was in my 20’s, and after having Connie. Even then, I was pressured into medicine. Or basically whatever would make my step mother happy. Even at the cost of my own.” Priyanka said, putting a hand on his glowing pink arm. “And just a little secret between you and I, no one really knows what they’re doing. I mean, I know what I’m doing, but most of the time, people in general don’t have a clue. Even those who do. I thought I would just be a surgeon until the day I die performing surgery on someone at the ripe old age of 108. You showed me that there are other ways to help people. In ways that matter. I just hope I’ve done enough for you with therapy.”

“You have. It may not seem like it, but you have.” Steven said, wiping a tear away. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Steven.” Priyanka said taking a few steps back and tapping a few buttons on the side of the main body of the machine. “Now it’s really important that you don’t move. This is basically like taking a panoramic picture, but the other way around.”

“Has this ever been tested on anyone though?” Steven asked, sounding worried.

“Yep. Tested it on myself, Doug, Greg, Connie, Onion a few times even though I didn’t ask for his help, Peridot, Amethyst, and surprisingly enough, Jasper.” Priyanka listed the names.

“Wait. Connie and dad helped test this thing? And you didn’t ask me?” Steven asked, feeling somewhat hurt.

“Well, you were going through some things earlier this year. I probably should have asked you though.” Priyanka answered, frowning. “But… you’re here now. And this is quite possibly the most rigorous test I could ever perform with this machine. We’re going for everything we can scan.”

“Well, I guess we’ll do what we… s-can.” Steven said with a slight smirk. At that moment, Priyanka let out a loud snort of laughter, followed by a look of shock as to what she did. “Um… Doctor/patient confidentiality?”

“You’re darn right. But good joke.” Priyanka said, slightly chuckling still. “And I promise, the next time I’m toying around with a potentially dangerous contraption, I’ll test it on you first. Now hold still.”

The machine behind Steven began to hum as the two pillars began to orbit around Steven. every time one of the passes across his face, a low hum was heard. They maintained a steady speed as a ring slowly moved down around Steven, being guided by the pillars. The ring gave off a mildly high pitch hum as it descended downward to the pad, and then slowly backed up. In a matter of moments, the pillars that were orbiting around Steven had stopped, the ring had gone back up to its original position above him. Steven looked at Priyanka, who was studying her tablet very intensely. Every so often, her face would go from relaxed, to confused, to shock, and then back to relaxed. She ultimately settled on being both confused and concerned.

“Wow… okay then. That’s… a thing…” Priyanka said, sounding boggled.

“What’s wrong? Is everything okay? Is there something wrong with me?” Steven nervously asked.

“Um… well. 2 good news and one bad. What do you want to hear?” Priyanka asked, sounding unsure about how to talk about the findings.

“Let’s deal with the bad.” Steven sighed.

“Well, it’s nothing life threatening, but your cortisol levels are kind of off the charts. Even for someone of your age and gender. It’s the chemical balance that regulates serotonin, melatonin, testosterone, etc. but it’s mostly known as something that aids in the ‘fight or flight” instincts in a human being. It could also affect a person’s mood. If it goes overboard, it can cause anxiety, depression, headaches, digestion issues which could be a comorbidity of anxiety, troubles sleeping, weight gain, and mental processes.” Priyanka answered. “But mostly, if the cortisol is off the charts like this, then you would be looking at textbook clinical levels of depression, anxiety, headaches, insomnia, even impaired judgement, which could be brought on by severe stress and sleep deprivation. Have you been having a hard time sleeping?”

“Honestly? Yes.” Steven replied. “You’ve kind of seen what goes on in my dreams.”

“Yeah. That would definitely make anyone want to stay up forever.” Priyanka spoke. “And that’s probably the worst kind of news I could give.”

“Do you think that might be why my mood has been, well, odd?” Steven asked.

“It could be. The Steven I knew a year ago wouldn’t have jumped the gun and had done something that spontaneous. Still though, we’re dealing with possible neurochemical things. Trying to manage those is like herding a bunch of pink Lions'' Priyanka said, shaking her head. “One false step, or one wrong kind of medication, and things could fall apart. Still, bad news is bad news.”

“Then what’s the good news?” Steven asked, trying to see the tablet. Noticing this, Priyanka laid the tablet flat in her hand as she pressed a few buttons that caused a holographic image of Steven to pop up with a small box detailing numbers and abbreviated words.

“The first set of good news is that apart from your hormones, cholesterol levels are normal, as well as blood pressure. BMI is slightly high, but with the numbers here, you’re moderately healthy.” Priyanka answered. “And the other good news is that you helped me find a bug in the system.”

Priyanka tapped a few more buttons that turned off certain layers on the screen like clothes, skin, muscles, and organs. All that were left were the bones and his gem. His gem had seemed to be larger than he thought it was in comparison to the rest of his body, but the one thing that caught his attention was his bones. They were off-white for the most part, but there were small pink veins and cracks in his bones.

“You stayed very still for the most part, so it seems that the scanner might have a few bugs in the system when it comes to scanning bones. A glitch that could be fixed within the next week, depending on how I can get Peridot away from Lapis. Seriously, that girl was no help at all.” Priyanka lamented. “But for all that we found, there is one other form of bad news I have to give, and it’s something I don’t want to do, but I’m going to give you a prescription for some medications. Best case scenario, we find that the cortisol levels were affecting your gem, which can be remedied with the medications.”

“And the worst case scenario?” Steven asked.

“Worse case would be that it’s the gem causing the imbalance with the cortisol.” Priyanka sighed while tapping a few buttons to cause the image to expand to show Stevens' gem as well as his torso. “Judging by the frequency of your gems light glowing bright and then fading to normal, I fear it might be just that. And if it is, then there isn’t much I can do.”

Steven could sense the worry and concern coming from her. Instinctively, he was compelled to help.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. What can you give me for the time being?” Steven asked.

“Well, I can give you something for the dreams, as well as a mood stabilizer to attempt to balance things out. But with that one having the side effect of high blood pressure, I’m going to need to give you something for that. And if the stabilizer doesn’t work, there’s always antidepressants to try to help with the effectiveness.” Priyanka replied, causing Steven to feel panicked. “I’m also going to need you to stay in contact with me about these medications. We’re going to be going into uncharted territory, and I’m not sure how the medications could affect you or your gem. Then again, even without the gem, sometimes the anti-depressants can have obverse effect that could cause the depression and anxiety to worsen to the point where a person can become suici- OH MY GLOB!”

Steven wasn’t aware of it, but when Priyanka looked at for a moment, she was shocked to see half of Steven’s head had grown, doubled in size like bread growing out of it’s loaf pan in an oven. One of his arms had shrunken, while the other had expanded. Noticing her shock, Steven looked down to see what had happened to his arm. And feeling his head hurting, he touched his forehead, only to notice how his head had become misshapen. The anxiety and fear had begun to skyrocket, at the same time, his gem had begun to feel as though it was made of lave, causing Steven to hunch forward while grasping his stomach. This was a mistake that caused Steven’s hand to burn violently, ultimately shooting his anxiety even further. The walls. They started to lurch in and out. Just like his dream. He felt as though he was hallucinating.

“This can’t be real. This can’t be real. This can’t be real. This can’t be real!” Steven whispered to himself through gritted teeth, his eyes shut tightly as he rocked back and forth on his knees. “I’m supposed to be a hero. I’m supposed to be in control. Why am I not? Why am I failing? Why am I a failure? Why?!”

He could feel his body contorting, the hospital gown began to tear itself apart until he felt someone wrapping their arms around him.

“Breathe Steven. Come on hon. Just breathe. Breathe with me. Come on. In. And out.” The voice spoke to him. It sounded motherly. Almost like it was his own mother. He could only imagine Rose Quartz, the mom he knew almost all of his life, kneeling down and wrapping her arms around him. “Come on, honey. Breathe with me. Slow and steady. Come on, sweetie. Breath slowly. Come on.”

Steven focused on the voice that nearly sounded like his mom. Her arms wrapped around him. Comforting him. It’s all he’s ever wanted. Normalcy. Maternal love. Safety. Things he never got from Garnet or Pearl. The heat began to die down, his body returning to normal, but the arms draped away, only to be replaced with a coat. A lab coat.

Steven slowly opened his eyes to see Priyanka, looking scared. she looked just as scared as she was the time she saw the gem monsters years ago.

“Breathe Steven.” She said with the same tone of voice his mom would have used. “Talk to me. are you okay?”

“Not really… but the walls aren’t moving in and out anymore.” Steven said after a few moments of collecting his thoughts. He looked down to see the tattered remains of the hospital gowns, as well as the fact that he didn’t have any clothes on. “Oh no…”

“It’s okay, hon. Come on. Let’s get you back into your clothes.” Priyanka said softly, helping Steven up.

The walk back to the elevator and up to the ground floor was long. Almost felt like years. Steven was dazed, clutching Priyanka’s coat tightly as he walked down the hallways feeling guilty and ashamed at what had happened.

“I’m-” Steven began to apologize before being interrupted.

“No Steven. I’m the one who should apologize. I went back into doctor mode. Listing medications and side effects like that seemed to have caused a fair amount of anxiety. Things snowballed out of control. I shouldn’t have laid all of that on you at once.” Priyanka said, sounding remorseful. “I’m really sorry, Steven.”

“It’s… It’s okay.” Steven said. “I should be in better control of my emotions.”

“Steven, I hate to switch gears from being a doctor to being a therapist, but when you say that, it just sounds like you’re saying you should bundle up your emotions and play the heroic leader. That may work in fictional books, but in the here and now, it’s okay to share your emotions. Talk things out.” Priyanka said. “Not sure where to got the notion that you’re suppose to ‘be in control of your emotions’ like some sort of robot, but it’s not healthy.”

“Garnet.” Steven said flatly. “Whenever my skin would glow pink, or when my gem begins to grow hot, Garnet just tells me to get my emotions under control. Like it’s so freaking easy.”

“She said that?” Priyanka asked, looking rattled, and then annoyed. “I’m going to have a talk with her when I get a chance. You don’t just say that to a teenager like it’s so easy.”

“It’s okay. Really. You don’t need to.” Steven spoke as he entered the examination room where his clothes were sitting in a chair. “I don’t want people fighting over me over something like that. It’s okay.”

“It’s far from okay, Steven.” Priyanka blurted out without stopping herself. “I… To me, it’s not okay. But I won’t get into an argument with her. Only because you asked though. In any other situation, I probably would have ripped into her the only way a mom knows how.”

“Thank you. It’s nice to know that, in a strange way.” Steven replied, before taking off the coat and looking for a hanger to put it on.

“I’ll take that for you, Steven.” Priyanka spoke. Steven handed her the coat before she closed the door to give him privacy.

Steven walked out of the examination room and had begun to walk towards the waiting room before a familiar voice called out to him.

“Schtewball?” Greg spoke, catching Steven’s attention. Steven couldn’t be happier to see his dad as he ran up to him and gave him a gentle hug, not wanting his strength to hurt him. But as he pulled away, he noticed that Greg looked more tired than usual. Bags under his red, tired eyes showed a mixture of sleeplessness and intense stress.

“Dad, what are you doing here? Are you okay?” Steven asked, sounding worried.

“What? Yeah, I’m okay. Completely healthy.” Greg said, trying to sound normal while Priyanka stared at Greg with a mild sense of contempt. And for a brief moment, Steven could swear that a blue button with a white X beneath it had appeared under Priyanka’s head. “Yeah, just heard you were here and wanted to come and see if you’re okay.”

“Yeah. I’m great. Completely healthy.” Steven attempted to lie. For a second time, he saw blue buttons with white X’s on them hovering briefly under their heads. Their faces showed that they weren’t buying it for a second. “Okay… I might need to go on some medications. And try to take it easy.”

“You and me both, kiddo.” Greg said with a slight smile.

“Definitely both of you. And maybe cut back on the sodium a bit. Maybe the donuts as well.” Priyanka nodded. “I need to talk to your father for a few moments, Steven. I think Connie and the gems are still out in the waiting room.”

“Yeah, I’ll check on them. They can be a handful sometimes.” Steven said as he walked towards the door to the waiting room. “Want me to wait, or should I head on home?”

“Might need to stick around. Your dad was telling me that there might be some trouble with the van, and you might need to drive it home with him.” Priyanka said, not giving Greg a chance to speak. “Right Greg?”

“Um, Yeah. It’s been acting strange. And I kind of sprained my… wrist?”

Priyanka could do nothing but roll her eyes. Even Steven was sensing the blue button with the white X beneath his head.

“Right.” Steven said, sensing that there was something wrong, but it wasn’t the time to talk about it. “I’ll be in the waiting room then.”

Entering back into the waiting room, the only people who were waiting for him was Amethyst and Connie. Amethyst was going through a fashion magazine and eating every page she thoroughly read while Connie was on her phone.

“I know, and I’m really sorry I couldn’t make it today. Something big came up a- oh. I’m okay. It was Steven. Yeah, I think he’s okay. Ah. Uh-huh. I’ll let him know. He just got out. Talk tomorrow at my house? Okay, bye, Pat’s.” Connie finished her conversation, putting her phone away and walking over to Steven with a big hug. “Oh gosh Steven, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Everything is okay. Why do you ask?” Steven lied, seeing both doubt and concern in Connie’s eyes.

“The small earthquake? You didn’t feel it?” Connie asked.

“It was a weird one too. Something was going on with the walls. It was kind of trippy.” Amethyst asked, putting down the half eaten magazine and walking over to Steven for a hug. “We kind of know how you get when it comes to stress. But we’re glad that you’re okay… I think.”

Steven remembered what he and Priyanka had talked about when it came to bottling up emotions.

“Actually… I might have done that. I’m not really okay. Might have to take some pills. Not sure how that’s going to work out.” Steven admitted to them, causing then to hug him at the same time. “Things are going to be rough for a while. I’m so-”

Before Steven could have a chance to apologize, they squeezed him tighter.

“Don’t apologize for this Steven. No matter what, we’re going to go through this together.” Connie spoke softly.

“Yeah, bud. We’re going to be by your side.” Amethyst added. “No matter what.”

“Yeah. No matter what.” Connie spoke.

“No matter what…” Connie repeated their words, hugging them in return.

**Author's Note:**

> sooooooooooooo: next time:
> 
> Steven and his dad catch up on things that were happening both at home, and on tour, with some news that could test Steven’s ability to keep his cool.
> 
> Authors note: This story kind of made more sense in my mind than it would for others. In the original episode, Steven kind of seemed a little more out of control with his powers, but at the same time, Priyanka wasn't going to run away. She's seen worse. And i wanted to end it on a more healthier note between Steven and Connie. She isn't going to let Steven ride it out on his own, and Steven knew she wouldn't let him. Plus, that machine Steven was in; think of it as a standing adjustable open-air CT/MRI scanner that takes a holographic 3D image of someone that can also filter out certain layers. It's kind of an idea i had a long time ago after being inside of one.
> 
> Finally: F in comments for Steven's charred bed.


End file.
